Covering New Ground

Goodison Park will be home to one of the best pitches in the country from next season with a full renovation currently underway.

Major preparations are already taking place ahead of the upcoming campaign with the Club installing a brand new system to help the team in its quest for glory.

Head groundsman Bob Lennon spoke with the Evertonian to explain what he and his team are doing to make sure the famous pitch is one of the finest in the Premier League.

“What we are doing this year is a full renovation of the pitch, which includes a new system called Desso Grassmaster. It’s the same as Arsenal, Aston Villa and Wembley use. This will be the Rolls-Royce of pitches now and one of the state-of-the-art pitches in the county.”

The installation of the system should see the pitch remain in top condition during periods of bad weather and throughout the winter months, with polyfibres punched into the roots to nit the turf together.

Lennon said: “We’re doing this to hopefully give the pitch consistency through the year instead of just from summer through to Christmas time. All this bad weather we’ve had over the last couple of years has been a problem, so we’ve had to have a decent pitch this year.”

New Everton manager Roberto Martinez is known for his passing style and attacking play and the introduction of the new system should help the team continue the attractive football that delighted the Goodison faithful throughout last season.

“The players are quite adamant about a good pitch because they go to places like Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester United and all these other places and they want the same system,” added Bob. “We have to keep up with the rest of the league. This [Dessa Grassmaster] is what they had for the World Cup in South Africa and this system will be used for the next 20 to 30 years.

“It is state-of-the-art, so there will be nothing to improve on this one.”